WEST HAVEN, Connecticut- The American International College men's basketball team traveled to take on the Chargers of the University of New Haven. The Yellow Jackets were able to squeak away with their first conference win of the season, 55-53.

Juwan Moody led the team with 14 points and chipped in three rebounds. Bruce Spruell and Tahlib Swan each had 10 points. Spruell also had four rebounds while Swan pulled down six. The starting five for the Yellow Jackets - Moody, Spruell, Swan, Rasheed Howard, and Javyon Pitts-Young - had 52 of the team's 55 points.

On the first possession of the game, the Chargers drove in and drew a foul and took an early 1-0 lead. Jayvon Pitts-Young answered on the Yellow Jackets' first possession with a layup. With the scored tied at five, the Chargers' Elijah Bailey hit a triple and gave his team the 8-5 lead.

The Yellow Jackets were down two, 11-9, when Howard had a chance to tie the game when he was at the line. He hit the first one but missed the second and made it a one-point game with 14:29 on the clock. Over the next six and a half minutes, the Chargers went on a 7-0 run and their lead grew to eight, 18-10. Max Risch gave the Yellow Jackets their first point in seven minutes off a pass from Swan for a layup. A minute later, Moody found himself open for a three and knocked it down. Just like that, an eight-point deficit was now just at three. Spruell hit a pair at the charity stripe with 3:24 left to make it a one-point game.

Moody gave the Yellow Jackets the 21-20 lead with a minute and a half left in the opening round, but then Danny Upchurch of the Chargers hit a layup to give them the lead. 25 seconds later, Moody hit a deep three to regain the lead. Swan ended the half with a steal and a fast break dunk to give the Yellow Jackets the 26-22 lead as they headed into the locker room.

In the opening four minutes of the second, the Yellow Jackets went on a 9-4 run and had the 34-26 lead. The Chargers started mounting a comeback as they tied the game on a Mihailo Vasic layup at the 13:25 mark. 12:07 showed on the clock when Pitts-Young broke a 36-36 tie and gave the Yellow Jackets a two-point lead, then Howard laid the ball up and gave AIC the four-point lead.

With six minutes left, the Chargers started a run as they trailed 49-40. Upchurch started the run with a layup that gave him 11 points for the night. Another lay-in by Upchurch made it a five-point game and forced AIC's coach, Andy Burkholder, to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Yellow Jackets turned the ball over and Charger Michael Bourke hit a three to make it a one-point game.

Howard stopped the seven-point Charger run with a layup at the 4:24 mark and made it a 51-47 Yellow Jacket lead. The Chargers gave the ball back to their hot hand, Upchurch, who hit a jumper and made it a one-possession game. Spruell made it a two-possession game as he sank a layup with two minutes left.

Spruell picked up his third foul of the game at the one-minute mark. Unfortunately, the foul made fifty feet from the basket gave the Chargers a trip to the line. The Chargers hit both and made it a two point game. After a Charger timeout, Pitts-Young drove in and laid the ball up with his left hand to make it a four-point lead.

With the shot clock off and trailing by four, the Chargers had the ball under the basket. Off the inbound pass, Upchurch passed to Vasic who was cutting towards the basket and laid the ball up. The Yellow Jackets broke the press and held the ball knowing the Chargers had to foul with only five team fouls. When Swan went to the line to shoot the one-and-one, he missed the first and gave the Chargers the ball with 16 seconds left. The Chargers pushed the ball up the right side of the court and found an open look for three. The shot by Upchurch rang out and the Yellow Jackets earned their first conference win of the season, 55-53.

The Yellow Jackets will be back in action on Thursday, December 15 at 7:00 p.m. when they host Concordia College New York.